Alcione (Alcione Nazaré, São Luís, Maranhão, November 21, 1947) also known … Read Full Bio ↴Alcione (Alcione Nazaré, São Luís, Maranhão, November 21, 1947) also known as Marrom (brownie) is one of the most successful female sambists in Brazil who first claimed international recognition in the late 1970s, and has had 19 gold records and two platinum records.

Alcione was introduced to the traditional Brazilian music by her father. He was a military musician who worked as the conductor of the corps marching band. At the age of thirteen, she was already able to give vocal performance in college parties. At this same age, she began to study clarinet, and then learnt to play the trumpet.

At age 20 Alcione moved to Rio de Janeiro. There she worked at the city's TV Excelsior, and later went on tour in Argentina and Chile for four months. On returning to Brazil, she settled in São Paulo, working in nightclub and making appearances on television. In 1970, she started her two-year tour in Europe, performing as a vocalist and a trumpet artist.

In 1972, when back to Brazil, Alcione recorded her first single. The following year, she traveled to sing in Mexico and, in 1974, Portugal, where she recorded her first full-length album. In 1975 Alcione released her LP, A Voz do Samba, which achieved gold sales status and featured several hit tracks. The most successful songs were Não Deixe o Samba Morrer, written by Edson and Aloiso, and O Surdo, written by Totonho/Paulinho Resende.

In the late 1970s, Nazaré became well-known as a samba artist and achieved international recognition. She recorded Alerta Geral for Philips Records and, in 1978, released this album, the title of which was taken from a television show that Alcione had hosted on TV Globo for two years. Following its success, Alcione continued to release several other full-length albums in late 1970s and early 1980s, including her self-titled album.

In 1997, Alcione signed with Universal Records, subsequently releasing a label debut named Valeu, through Polygram the next year. This was followed by Celebração that same year, and Claridade---Uma Homenagem A Clara Nunes in 1999. In December 2002 Alcione was recognized for playing an important part in founding the Paraíso School of Samba in London, England. She also helped organizing and preparing the stage for a British version of the Carnival Brasil, Paraíso dos Orixás (Brazil, Paradise of the Gods). In 2003, her 2002 album, Ao Vivo, received the Best Samba/Pagode Album Award at fourth Latin Grammy Award ceremony.

She has interpreted several hits such as Não deixe o samba morrer, Lá vem você, Gostoso veneno and Ilha da maré.

On July 7, 2007 she performed at the Brazilian leg of Live Earth in Rio de Janeiro.

Xequeré
Alcione Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

E lá vai ela
Chacoalhando o xaqueré
E lá vai ela
Chacoalhando o xequeré

Veio de lá da bahia
Capital do canjarê
Mas não sei, afinal, qual a dela

Se é cravo o canela
Ou é mona de ekê
Não sei se ela é pedra noventa
Ou se bota pimenta
No acarajé
Eu só sei é que nego se espalha
Quando ela chacoalha
Aquele xequeré

E lá vai ela...

Trouxe de Água de Meninos um bonito caxixí
Bem trançado, bonito, enfeitado
Todo preparado pra me sacudir
Não sei se ela é de Itaparica,
De Maragogipe ou lá de Nazaré
Eu só sei é que eu viro criança
Quando ela balança
Aquele xequeré

E lá vai ela...

Chegou no nosso terreiro
Gargalhando na ganzá
Mas na hora de abrir os trabalhos
Pegou meu chocalho e não quis mais largar
Sacode, remexe, balança não para, não cansa
E não sai do meu pé
Mas o ponto melhor do pagode
É quando ela sacode

Aquele xequeré
Ela vai ela

Overall Meaning

Alcione's song "Xequeré" is a joyful celebration of a woman who moves and shakes her "xequeré," a percussive instrument made from a gourd with a beaded net covering it. It is said to have originated in Africa and came to Brazil via the slave trade. The lyrics suggest that the woman comes from Bahia, the home of "canjarê," a type of music, and she carries with her a "caxixí," another type of percussion instrument. However, the singer is not sure about the woman's background because he doesn't know if she is "cravo o canela" (expensive or cheap), "pedra noventa" (hard to please), or puts "pimenta" (spice) in her "acarajé" (a Bahian dish). Despite this uncertainty, the woman's skill with the xequeré attracts attention and admiration wherever she goes.

The second verse describes how the woman arrived at a "terreiro" (a type of Afro-Brazilian religious community center) carrying a "ganzá" (another percussion instrument), and promptly took over the singer's "chocalho" (shaker). The woman's energetic shaking of the xequeré and other instruments adds excitement to the music, and everyone eagerly waits for the moment when she "sacode" (shakes) her "xequeré" and "o ponto melhor do pagode" (the best part of the party) is reached.

Overall, the song celebrates the joy and energy of Brazilian music and the role of percussion instruments in creating that energy. It also highlights the power of an individual performer to captivate an audience with skill, charm, and a love of music.

Line by Line Meaning

E lá vai ela
Here she goes

Chacoalhando o xaqueré
Shaking the xequeré

Veio de lá da bahia
She came from Bahia

Capital do canjarê
Capital of canjarê

Mas não sei, afinal, qual a dela
But I don't know, after all, what is hers

Se é cravo o canela
If it's clove or cinnamon

Ou é mona de ekê
Or a fetish eke

Não sei se ela é pedra noventa
I don't know if she's a hard rock

Ou se bota pimenta
Or if she puts pepper

No acarajé
In the acarajé

Eu só sei é que nego se espalha
All I know is that people spread out